YMMV / Bloom Into You

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Touko's character in the play, being an amnesiac who learns about herself at the same time as the audience, naturally invites this. Did she distance herself from her brother and the rest of her family because she's naturally cold and distant, was she simply concerned about how the family would get along, or was something else the case? How accurate are the three perspectives on her, and how honest are the people sharing them?
  • Ichigaya's claim that Mio Nanami wasn't the ideal Student Council President everyone thought of her as can inspire a few interpretations of her character, assuming that what he says is true. Was Mio a slacker who enjoyed the perks of being seen as a model student, or was it possible that she was like Touko- a relatively ordinary person who'd been desperate to become someone special, even if it meant not being true to herself?
  • Did Sayaka's ex, Chie Yuzuki, truly think of the Gay Romantic Phase they had as a mere phase, or is she perhaps in denial about her own sexuality? Furthermore, was Chie's sudden breakup with Sayaka motivated by her inability to realize (or maybe even care) that Sayaka actually took their relationship seriously, or did she do it in the hopes that Sayaka would move on and get a boyfriend? Was her inability to consider how Sayaka might feel about the breakup due to an almost sociopathic Lack of Empathy, or was she simply that clueless about how other people's feelings?
  • Regarding the boy who confessed to Yuu in the first chapter, how genuine was his interest in her? Furthermore, is it possible that if Yuu had her epiphany about love by the time she got his confession, she might not have turned him down?
  • Was Oogaki's decision not to tell Akari about his relationship with Serizawa motivated by a desire to avoid awkwardness in the club, or because he was too cowardly to be honest with her? Was it even his idea?
  • Yuu's struggles with understanding what it means to fall in love may be less of a difficulty in telling real love apart from its romanticized(no pun intended) portrayal in fiction as it is her coming to terms with her sexuality. Yuu's parents, sister and middle school friends are all heterosexual, so she may not have met a non-closeted lesbian before she met Touko, and may not have understood that many lesbian relationships go beyond the Gay Romantic Phase. As such, she may have assumed that her inability to feel anything special about her male classmate's confession meant that she was a heterosexual incapable of feeling true love, rather than a lesbian.
  • Natsuki could have unrequited and unconfessed feelings for Yuu, albeit being a good sport about them. She's disappointed that Yuu didn't follow her to her high school or her softball team, and is the member of their group of friends who takes the most interest in Yuu's developing relationship with Touko, not to mention the only one who explicitly mentions knowing about it it in the final chapter.
• Awesome Art: The anime and the manga are full of it in most panels. The anime has several shots of the scenery, filled with soft colors and bright lights.
• Broken Base:
  • The anime ends with Yuu and Touko's date to the aquarium, just after Koyomi's started rewriting the play. Some people complain about the abrupt ending. Others argue that it's a decent place to stop and set up for a potential second season since it wouldn't be worth rushing the pacing or skipping source material to end after the School Play.^note The aquarium date is in Chapter 24, and the play ends in Chapter 31, so that's likely another three to five episodes worth of material
  • The dub of the anime. Some people enjoy it, while others complain that it takes too many liberties with the source material. A particularly contentious change is having all the characters on a First-Name Basis from the get-go; in the original Japanese, Yuu calls Touko "Nanami-senpai" until they start going out while Touko uses "Koito-san" on Yuu until Chapter 11. Some argue that the scene in which Sayaka notices Touko calling Yuu by her first name would make less sense. Others, however, aren't as critical of the changes, since it would be difficult to capture the nuances; while Touko calling Yuu "Koito-san" is polite, translating it as "Miss Koito" would probably be overly formal to an English audience, while just calling Yuu "Koito" would come off as rude.
  • Yuu not being asexual, contrary to what many people had initially assumed about her. Some find that it makes sense in the context of the story, particularly with Yuu's character arc showing her becoming aware of her being attracted to Touko (especially when her heart races as she makes out with Touko in the store room), while others are disappointed that the series didn't feature an asexual lead. To a certain extent, people are disappointed about Touko not being asexual, but in that case, it's a bit clearer that Touko is a lesbian who has severe self-loathing issues that make her unable to accept others' love, as well as many suitors with superficial crushes on her that she wouldn't consider anyway.
• Crack Pairing: Yuu/Sayaka. The two aren't completely incompatible, since they're close in age, are open to the possibility of going out with girls and can actually get along. That said, most of their interactions revolve around their very different relationships with Touko (to say nothing of how they feel about her), so it's a bit hard to imagine them getting together. This was later complicated when it was revealed that Haru, Sayaka's girlfriend in college, looks an awful lot like Yuu.
• Die for Our Ship: While Sayaka's still relatively popular as a well-written and sympathetic romantic rival to Yuu, some readers took umbrage with her noticing Touko's change of heart and taking the opportunity to confess to Touko, simply because it seemingly constitutes "stealing" Touko from Yuu. In fact, not only does Touko turn Sayaka down, but Sayaka's confession helps Touko end up getting together with Yuu.
• Fan Nickname: Some fans called Chie Yuzuki, Sayaka's ex-girlfriend, "Hidoi-sempai" ("Terrible Sempai,") before Chie was given a name, the nickname inspired by Chie being the least likeable character in the story.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • Some readers have noted that Touko's skill at being an actress is only natural, since she's been putting on an act ever since her sister died, and more or less playing her sister's role.
  • Readers also notice that while Yuu is somewhat passive and indecisive for much of the manga, her being on top while having sex with Touko in the penultimate chapter is subtle proof of her Character Development.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Akari's gushing over her crush Oogaki, and even seemingly being fine with him saying he wants to focus on basketball becomes a bit more painful to watch if you already know that he not only is in a relationship, but didn't even bother to tell her the truth after she confessed to him.
• Les Yay: Manaka and Midori are not only Those Two Guys for Touko and Sayaka, but spend a lot of time together. On the Class Trip, they take part in the same activities that Touko and Sayaka do, from attempting the "Love Fortune Stone" challenge together to riding in the same boat. Regarding Sayaka Saeki reveals that they're living together after high school. Unusually for a Yuri Genre series, they merely get a bit of Ship Tease, as opposed to actually becoming a couple.
• LGBT Fanbase: The series has more than a few LGBTQ fans, particularly those who appreciate the fact that it takes same-sex relationships seriously and deconstructs the Gay Romantic Phase trope. It also has several fans that are asexual, aromatic and demisexual, as the series does explore it with several of the characters.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Many comment sections and online blogs were flooded with some variation of "Yuu tops!" in reaction to Chapter 44, where Yuu and Touko make love, and Yuu is the one who takes control while Touko ends up being rather submissive. Many also commented that, while they didn't see this coming at all, it was, in retrospect, 100% in-character for both of them.
  • Fans went wild when art from Sayaka's Light Novel revealed that Haru and Yuu were Identical Strangers. The most popular theory was that Haru was really Yuu and Yuu had became the ultimate Chad of the series.
• OT3: Some fans ship Yuu/Touko/Sayaka, thereby resolving the main Love Triangle.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: The first few chapters/episodes get off to a slow start, save for the unconventional premise of Touko being in an Unrequited Love with Yuu. The series picks up once Touko's Hidden Depths and vulnerability become apparent.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: While it's obvious that the guy who confessed to Yuu at the start of the story never stood a chance, it might have been nice to learn a little more about him as a person and how genuine his interest in Yuu was.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: In Chapter 33, Rei ponders what might happen if Yuu and Touko came out of the closet and admitted to being in a relationship, and Yuu later wonders whether she can eventually tell her friends. At the end of the series, however, there's no evidence that anyone in the Koito family besides Rei knows that Yuu and Touko have been going out.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Little Girls?: With a huge female following, its emotional focus on romance, and its down to earth setting, many foreign audience members assume this series is a shoujo manga (or sometimes even jousei). Dengeki Daioh, the manga Bloom into You is published in, is a shounen anthology.
• The Woobie: Touko has crippling self-esteem problems, and the closer she gets to realizing her goal of "becoming" her sister, the more she hates her old self and becomes desperate to leave it behind. Worse, still, her self-loathing prevents her from accepting Yuu's love or fully realizing how much her friends care about her.
• Woolseyism:
  • Since the dub has the characters generally being on a First-Name Basis (apart from people like Doujima or Maki, whose first names aren't generally known or used much), the scene in which Touko asks to call Yuu by her first name all the time instead has her ask to use nicknames.
  • Riko gets annoyed whenever her students call her "Riko-sensei," rather than "Hakozaki-sensei," since First-Name Basis is inappropriate for a teacher, even with the correct honorific. The dub has a few students call her "Teach," an overly familiar way of addressing teachers that still acknowledges their status as such (compared to others using "Ms. Hakozaki," or Yuu once calling Riko "ma'am.")
  • Just before the play starts, Touko's mother calls Touko's father "Dad," even though he's her husband, not her father, since it's a term of endearment used by married couples. Instead of using this literally, the localization of the manga has her say "honey."